Christmas Break

Another Christmas has come and we have been allowed to experience it. No matter how you celebrate it or if you celebrate it at all, the idea of coming together with loved ones and exchanging presents is a great one.

This year, my kids are excited to track Santa’s voyage around the world on Santa Tracker, compliments of Google. I have allowed them a whole week (this one) of no school and no instruments. We still read in the evening and do our devotional. They log onto Mathletics.com and Science4us.com which theoretically counts as school but it is so much fun for them, they don’t think of it as a chore. I have reviews coming soon on both, by the way.

My kids working on science4us.com

We are still dealing with the loss of their eight-year-old friend, Deborah. My daughter says that “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” reminds her of Deborah and she asks, “Don’t you think of heaven, going there one day and finally meeting up with her again when you listen to this song?”

They mention her out of the blue, so I know they are still processing how a life can be here one day and then not the next. It’s the mystery that has baffled all of humanity since the dawn of history. We review one more time the blessed hope that we have as Christians, i. e. the resurrection of the faithful at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

So this week and next week constitute our Christmas break. A time for all of us to do what we want to do. They play play play all day. It has been so hot, I took them to the playground the other day and they got three full hours of fresh air.

I finished reading Don Quixote. Whew! Two volumes, 850+ pages depending on your format, and too many damsels in distress. But it’s done and I am glad I persevered. In the words of Sancho Panza, there is a big step between saying and doing.

I cooked more dishes than usual so we are ready for Christmas day when we have company. I caught up with some of my publishing projects. I studied the new spelling curriculum I got for my son, i.e. Essentials from Logic of English. I will use it for four months and write a review around mid-April, but so far I can tell you that I am impressed with its organization. This is the fourth spelling curriculum we will try out and I have high hopes. I think.